§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efforts Her Majesty's Government are making to obtain medicinal and scientific data about the effects of depleted uranium-based ammunition in Iraq. [77258]
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§ Mr. Doug Henderson[holding answer 18 March 1999]: Officials from the Department for International Development (DfID) have been in discussion with the World Health Organisation (WHO) concerning possible projects to improve the overall health situation in Iraq. DfID expects to receive formal proposals—for example, to improve epidemiological surveillance in Iraq, to establish links between medical institutions outside Iraq and to improve Iraq's cancer registration system—from the WHO shortly, which the Government will consider carefully.
The Government are well aware of suggests that there has been an increase in ill-health—including deformities, cancers and birth defects—in southern Iraq, which some commentators have attributed to the use of depleted uranium (DU) based ammunition by Coalition forces during the 1990–91 Gulf conflict. However, the Government have not seen any peer-reviewed epidemiological research data on this population to support these claims and therefore cannot comment on them further. There is currently no evidence that the illnesses of the types described, including cancers, are uniquely associated with exposure to DU. The Government would, of course, consider carefully any medical or scientific data which was presented on this subject.